"The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
— Mark Twain
Literature
Teems of Times and Happy Returns.
London: Heinemann, 1961. [Literary Autobiography] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (21 x 14cm), pp.[12] 234 [2]. With two double-sided black and white photographic plates and a frontispiece sketch of the author. Publisher's purple cloth with gilt titles to spine. With the brown dust-jacket designed by Leslie Needham, priced at 18s. A lovely..... More
The Uneven Road.
London: John Murray, 1955. [Military history] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.viii; 335; [1]. Publisher's yellow cloth, titles in dark brown to spine, pictorial dust-jacket with printed price of 21s. net. Illustrated with two maps and six double sided photographic plates. Internally fine, light offsetting to endpapers and spotting..... More
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
Oxford: Printed by the Shakespeare Head Press and Published for the Press by Basil Blackwell, 1931. [Romantic Fiction] LIMITED LARGE PAPER EDITION of 1000 copies, this being number 303. Two volumes, large octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.282, pp.278. Illustrated with etched frontispiece to each volume, from a drawing by Jack..... More
The Balcony.
London: Cobden-Sanderson, 1934. [Literature] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.248. Publisher's red cloth, titles in gilt to spine, dust-jacket designed by John Nash. Generally internally clean and bright apart from a small stain affecting four leaves towards the rear of the book. Edges toned, a little dusty to top..... More
Selected Articles on Censorship of the Theater and Moving Pictures. The Handbook Series III, Volume 6.
New York, NY: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1931. [Film and Theatre] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.385; [3]. Publisher's brown cloth, gilt titles to spine, dust-jacket with printed price of $2.40 to spine. Very light spotting and browning. Jacket browned with some small chips to edges. A remarkably well-preserved..... More
Beyond the Fringe.
London: Souvenir Press, 1963. [Humour] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 13cm), pp.96. Publisher's dark blue cloth, orange titles to spine, photographic dust-jacket with printed price of 13s. 6d. With six double sided black and white photographic plates. Light spotting to edges. Wrapper slightly edge worn, some marking to rear panel..... More
Trent's Own Case.
New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1936. [Crime Mystery] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.[10] 324 [2]. Publisher's orange cloth with blue titles to spine and upper. Top edge blue, others untrimmed. With the dust-jacket designed by Hawkins, priced at $2.00. The usual wood-grain pattern browning to preliminaries..... More
Trent's Own Case.
London: Constable and Co., 1936. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.[6] 314. Publisher's orange cloth with blue titles to spine and upper. Top edge blue. Toronto bookseller's stamp to flyleaf. Erasure of heavy pencil inscription also to flyleaf. Gently toned throughout. Only very minor rubbing to cloth;..... More
Trent Intervenes.
London: Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1938. [Crime Mystery] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.280. Publisher's blue cloth with white titles to spine. Top edge blue. Some browning to edges and endpapers, with gentle occasional spotting. Spine toned, with some rubbing and marking to cloth. Very good. A collection of..... More
Duane and the Art Murders.
London: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1939. [Dective novel] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (20 x 14cm), pp.[8]; 246; [2]. Publisher's red cloth, titles in black to spine, splendid dust-jacket designed by Ronald Lampitt with printed price of 3'6 net to spine. Bookplate detailing provenance to pastedown. Offsetting to endpapers, spotting and dustiness..... More
The Decoy.
London: William Collins Ltd., 1927. [Crime Fiction] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[ii]; 251; [1], imprint. Publisher's burgundy cloth in illustrated jacket priced at 3/6 (title was likely published at 7/6, although we are certain this particular jacket has always been with this book). Some trivial dustiness handling and..... More
Peckover.
London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1934. [Modern Literature]. FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 14cm), pp.[xii]; 297; [1], blank; [10], advertisements. Publisher's navy blue cloth in striking pictorial jacket by Fraser, priced 3/6, showing the confused Gilbert Peckford's haunting and bloodshot reflection. A clean copy of the book, bright wrapper with a...... More
The Lady with a Lamp.
London: Victor Gollancz, 1929. [Drama] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 12cm), pp.136. Publisher's black cloth with red paper title label to spine. With the plain dust-jacket, priced at 3/6 for paper, or 5s for cloth. A small blue ink gift inscription to fly-leaf. Quite heavy spotting and offsetting to endpapers..... More
Poems in the Porch.
London: S.P.C.K., 1957. [Poetry] ILLUSTRATED EDITION, a later printing. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.[28]. With in-text illustrations by Piper. Publisher's soft covers titled in blue and red, stapled twice and priced at 2s. Blue ink gift inscription to half-title. Covers toned with some light handling. Very good. Some blank verse..... More
Sand and Canvas; a Narrative of Adventures in Egypt, with a Sojourn Among the Artists in Rome.
London: Charles Gilpin, 1849. [Travel Memoirs] FIRST EDITION, an association copy. Octavo (22 x 15cm), pp.[4] xii; 370 [2]. With eight engraved plates, including a frontispiece, after drawings by the author, six being hand-coloured, each with a tissue guard. Pencil note to verso of fly-leaf stating: 'Wm. Bevan - my..... More
The Holy Bible. A Critical Commentary and Paraphrase on the Old and New Testament and the Apocrypha.
London: Richard Priestley, 1822. FINELY BOUND. Quarto (32 x 26 x 28cm). Bound in contemporary diced tan calf, gilt titles on black calf squares to spine, all edges marbled, marbled endpapers. Frontispiece engraving of Bishop Patrick to volume I, folding map of the Holy Lands in volume V. Bookplate of..... More
The 7th Function of Language.
London: Harvill Secker, 2017. [Political Thriller] SIGNED FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Octavo (23 x 14cm), pp.[8] 390 [4]. SIGNED by the author in black ink to red preliminary leaf. Publisher's red paper-covered boards, with matching endpapers. A red '7' to fore-edge. With the photographic dust-jacket, priced at £16.99. 'Signed by..... More
The Blackbird's Nest. A Tale for Youth.
Philadelphia, PA: Johnson and Warner, 1812. [Children's Antiquarian]. EARLY EDITION. Vigesimo-quarto (13 x 9cm), pp.36. With occasional vignette wood engravings. Recently re-backed in matching grey card with original grey illustrated paper covers laid over. Remarkably crisp and clean, with some wear to original cover edges. Very good. A fine wholesome..... More
The Black-Eyed Blonde. A Philip Marlowe Novel.
New York, NY: The Mysterious Bookshop / Henry Holt, 2014. [Detective mystery] SIGNED LIMITED EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.[xii]; 290; [4]. Number 59 of 100 copies SIGNED by the author in black ink to limitation page. Publisher's quarter black leatherette with gilt titles to spine and marbled paper over..... More
Suddenly at Singapore.
London: Collins, 1961. [Crime Thriller] SIGNED FIRST EDITION. Octavo (19 x 13cm), pp.192. SIGNED by the author in black ink to Eileen M. Cond's distinctive bookplate on fly-leaf. Publisher's purple cloth with silver titles to spine. With the illustrated dust-jacket. Miss Cond's usual exemplary condition, with a small blue ink..... More
Double Cross.
London: Doubleday, 2008. [Young Adult Fiction] SIGNED FIRST EDITION. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.[10] 434 [4]. SIGNED by the author in black ink to title page. Publisher's black cloth with silver titles to spine. With the black and white dust-jacket, priced at £12.99. Slightly toned to edges, lightly handled. Near..... More
Lorna Doone. A Romance of Exmoor.
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co. for Boots Pure Drug Co., no date [circa 1930]. [Illustrated Literature] RARE DUST-JACKET, a later edition. Small quarto (26 x 20cm), pp.x; 520. With 16 tipped-in chromolithographic plates after illustrations by Brittan and Brock, including a frontispiece. Publisher's blue cloth with gilt titles and..... More
Lorna Doone. A Romance of Exmoor.
London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co., no date [circa 1910]. [Classic Literature] FINELY BOUND. Crown octavo, pp.517. Photogravure of the author as frontispiece, from a photograph by Fred Jenkins, with tissue guard. 'School Prize' binding of full dark blue calf, extra gilt with gilt crest of Trafalgar House Winchester to..... More
Lorna Doone. A Romance of Exmoor.
London: Sampson Low, Marston & Company, no date [1893]. [Romantic Novel] FINELY BOUND, the thirty-ninth edition. Octavo (18 x 13cm), pp.viii; 517 [5]. Contemporary red full calf by ALLMAN & SON of London, with gilt titles to green label and further gilt tooling to spine. All edges and endpapers marbled..... More
An Elegy on the Glory of Her Sex.
London: Frederick Warne and Co., Ltd., c.1900. AN ILLUSTRATED PICTURE BOOK. Slim oversized octavo, pp.22. Bound in publisher's decorated paper-covered boards, depicting two men in Georgian attire holding a portrait of a lady in side profile. Front and rear pastedown illustrated with full colour plates. Publisher's advertisement to rear. A...... More